


darkest before the dawn

by ralf



Series: pillow talk [7]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Fluff, I'm not kidding okay I laid it on so thickly with the fluff in this, Love, M/M, Magnus Bane Loves Alec Lightwood, Sappy, Sappy Ending, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 22:12:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17394632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf
Summary: Alec and Magnus, the night before their wedding.





	darkest before the dawn

“You want us to _what?_ ” Alec asks, incredulous, sure he must have misheard.

Magnus pouts the tiniest bit and lays his hand on Alec's shoulder in a clear attempt to placate him. “Spend the night apart.”

“ _Why?_ ” Any other time and Alec would feel bad for how offended he sounds, but he can't bring himself to care about that at the moment. “Magnus, you're aware what day tomorrow is, right?”

Magnus's pout intensifies. “Yes, Alexander, I'm well aware. I didn't stress out preparing every last detail these last months to suddenly forget the date of my own wedding.”

Alec frowns. “Okay. Then why would you want us to spend the night apart?”

Magnus squeezes his shoulder. “You never heard of it? It's bad luck, seeing the bride before the ceremony.”

Alec tilts his head, not really enlighted by this explanation. “Last time I checked neither of us was a bride.” He crosses his arms defiantly. “And I checked this morning.”

Magnus laughs warmly and Alec's heart that had throbbed uncomfortably since Magnus's suggestion settles a little at the sight. Magnus's other hand finds Alec's shoulder and he laces his fingers behind Alec's neck, leaning against him. “It's a mundane tradition. I think it's sweet, you know, to refrain from seeing your soon-to-be before the ceremony, so when the time has come and you finally set eyes on the one you are going to marry it hits you all over again that this is it. Like a revelation.” He grins up at Alec.

This is exactly why Alec hates mundanes sometimes. They come up with stupid stuff like that and as a result Magnus wants them to sleep separately. On the night before their wedding, no less. Alec can't even remember the last time they voluntarily didn't share a bed, just the odd warlock conference or clave meeting managing to keep them apart.

Alec really wants to object, wants to argue that seeing Magnus is always like a revelation to him and that he could never tire of looking at him, that he doesn't need hours away from Magnus to stoke this smoldering yearning for his presence inside him. But one look at the excited sparkle in Magnus's eyes tells him how this will end. He couldn't possibly cause that spark to disappear. Magnus is clearly enamoured by the idea and so Alec will comply, heavy as his heart may be at the thought of sleeping without Magnus's familiar warmth beside him tonight.

“Fine,” he concedes. “Can we at least have breakfast together?”

Magnus laughs as if he made a joke which probably means no, so Alec doesn't correct that misconception.

With a deep sigh he slides his arms around Magnus's waist and pulls him closer. “Do I get a kiss before I head to the Institute?”

Magnus leans back, a small furrow in his brow. “Why do you immediately assume that _you_ have to go?”

Alec blinks before looking around the loft. “Well, this is-”

Before he can finish Magnus has shifted one of his hands to his cheek, effectively shutting him up with a thump over his lips. “ _Our_ home. We have equal claim to it.”

Alec smiles despite the situation. “Okay. So what now?”

Magnus untangles himself from him. “I'm prepared,” he reveals with a flourish, presenting Alec with two matches, one of which is broken off in the middle.

Alec examines them sceptically. “And where will you sleep if I win?”

Magnus smirks. “Oh, I have real estate all over the world, as you well know.”

Alec presses his lips together. The only thing more horrible than spending the night alone is spending it in the knowledge that Magnus is miles and miles beyond his reach, on a different continent even. His spine straightens with resolve. He's definitely going to lose this straw-drawing.

 

~ ~ ~

 

This is how Alec finds himself in his less than hospitable bed at the Institute, staring at the cracks in the ceiling he knows by heart and chasing sleep that won't come. He stopped watching the minutes tick by on his alarm clock sometime around half past eleven, but following the spiderweb-like lines in the stone above him does nothing to bring him closer to rest.

It's peculiar how foreign he feels between the walls where he spent almost his whole life. He didn't expect to grow unfamiliar with them so quickly after moving in with Magnus, but it makes sense in a way. He barely sets foot in here anymore, all his time at the Institute divided between his office and the training area.

He never had a lot of personal items to begin with, but after relocating the few ones he has to the loft his old room feels abandoned somehow, as if no one's lived here for a long time. Maybe even moreso now that he stands on the cusp of moving even farther away from the person he once was, when this bed was all he knew and he couldn't imagine life beyond the confines of this Institute.

His melancholic thoughts are interrupted by his senses tingling with static, the air crackling with energy, and Alec has only just time to get up on his elbows before a portal swirls into existence in the middle of his bedroom. His heart pounds, partly from lingering adrenaline and partly in fond anticipation because he'd recognize this magic anywhere.

Not a moment later Magnus steps through the whirling portal, clad in his sleep pants and a sheepish expression on his face. He looks exhausted and a small pout forms on his lips as soon as he catches Alec's eyes.

“I can't sleep.”

Alec can't help the smile froming on his lips because just looking at Magnus makes him feel warm and soothed and so full of love. “Neither can I,” he says and lifts his blanket invitingly.

Magnus climbs in immediately, sinking right into Alec's arms where he's meant to be and Alec sighs, finally content.

Magnus sighs too, his breath caressing Alec's collarbone and he presses his cheek against Alec's shoulder with a definite petulant edge to it. “This is stupid. I don't want to look tired on my wedding day. I have to look my absolute best.”

Alec sweeps his hand over Magnus's side in a reassuring motion. “You always look your best, no matter if you're tired or not.”

Magnus burrows even closer to him and hums appreciatively. “Such a sweet talker.”

Alec shrugs; cautiously, he doesn't want to jostle Magnus. “I'm just saying what I think.”

“I know.” Magnus brushes a kiss over the hollow of his throat. “That makes it even sweeter.”

Alec relents for now, contenting himself with the knowledge that he has all the time in the world left to make Magnus see what he sees. He leans his cheek against Magnus's hair. “I'm glad you came here.”

“Me too,” Magnus whispers back. “You weren't thrilled with my idea in the first place, were you?”

“I wasn't,” Alec admits. “It's.. I get the appeal, on some level. But I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Magnus. Every second that I could spend with you but don't is wasted.”

Magnus is silent for a few heartbeats and when he speaks his voice is raw with emotion. “I love you, Alexander. So much.”

Alec shifts to press a kiss to his hair. “I love you more.”

Magnus turns his head a fraction and Alec can feel his smile against his skin. “I love you most.”

Alec takes a moment to breathe it all in: Magnus's happiness, his warmth, his solid weight against him, and most tangible of all, his unwavering love, echoed equally in Alec's heart.

“Let's agree on a tie.”

 


End file.
